10 June 2018 1:54 AM

PETER HITCHENS: Like a rattlesnake, the EU can bite us long after it gets the chop

NB: Comments were wrongly closed on this post. They are now open. Apologies for the error, PH**

This is Peter Hitchens's Mail on Sunday column

We learned last week that a rattlesnake can still bite and kill you long after you have cut off its head.

The European Union is just as dangerous. I am amazed at how relaxed so many people are about leaving it.

They think it will be like some Harry Potter film where you pronounce the magic spell, and are free.

How silly. The EU has spent nearly 50 years burrowing into this country, and sucking power and wealth from us through a million tiny channels.

Its tentacles are deep into Parliament, the Civil Service, the diplomatic service, industry and commerce, universities and schools and, of course, the media, especially the BBC.

So did you really think (yes, I think some of you did) that, thanks to a rather close referendum, we could just walk out, wave goodbye and start again as an independent country?

As I wrote in February 2016, in words which I nowadays find being repeated by a lot of other people: ‘You read it first here. The EU is like the Hotel California. You can check out. But you can never leave.’

I said that a number of supposed Leavers really just wanted a renegotiation of our membership, under the guise of departure.

And I’ve been very interested, in all the mind-numbing wrangles over borders, markets and customs, that everyone has forgotten what – to me – is one of the single worst aspects of the EU.

The European Arrest Warrant, under which some magistrate in Bucharest can order a British police officer to arrest you, and which fundamentally weakens British liberty, is still going to apply here after our alleged exit.

This matters far more than the glorious freedom to import and eat American, chlorine-washed chickens, or whether we can do some supposedly luscious independent trade deal with Malaysia.

No doubt the Malaysians would be frantic to buy British goods, if there were any. But the EU has wiped out most of our home industries, so I suspect such deals would just mean importing more stuff from Malaysia.Then there’s the M20 problem. I don’t know for certain what will happen at the ports of Calais, Ostend, Antwerp and Rotterdam if we leave the Single Market.

But from what I can understand of the ‘third country’ rule, things could be very bad.

Non-tariff barriers, myriad complex regulations which must be applied to non-EU goods under international trade law, are simply bound to delay the entry of British goods to these EU ports.

And we must also apply these regulations (again, by international law) to goods from the EU.

So what if the scare stories are right, and the M20 does turn overnight into an enormous lorry-park, backed up for miles with immobilised trucks? It seems perfectly possible to me.

Is anyone who claims that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ prepared to give a written, personal guarantee that they will resign for ever from any public office if this is what happens?

I have been in favour of this country leaving the EU for many years, in times when plenty of today’s noisiest and most prominent Leavers were either silent on the subject or actively pro-EU.

And I think we should be very careful. Here is my nightmare, a little like what happened to Jeremy Sutcliffe in Lake Corpus Christi, Texas, who beheaded a rattlesnake with his shovel and thought he was safe.

Ten minutes later, he picked up the apparently lifeless head to throw it away, and it bit him. He nearly died. Well, what if the EU bites back after we think we’ve left it? We go for a gung-ho exit, and it turns out badly, with blocked ports and an economic meltdown?

What I fear is that the massed ranks of Remainers will then demand, and get, their second referendum, and a panic-stricken British populace will vote to return.

Ah, yes, the EU smiles, you are welcome to come back, provided you now accept the euro, abolish the pound and what remains of your border controls. And so we end up worse than we started, locked and sealed in ever-closer union.

All this can still be avoided by the sensible, workable compromise I’ve urged here before and which MPs – if they have any wits about them – will support in the coming days.

Go for the Norway option. Leave the EU, get back a large measure of migration control (yes, you can, in the EEA), get rid of 75 per cent of its interference in our lives, but take no economic risks.

We may still be stuck in the Hotel California once it’s done, but we’ll be in the luxury suite, not in the miserable damp annexe with a view of the wheelie bins, which will be our lot if the fanatics get their way.

What's the proof that 'antidepressants' work?

Every time I hear of a seemingly fortunate person killing himself or herself (and it is often, nowadays), I look to see if that person has been taking ‘antidepressants’. Their friends and relatives will say ‘we had no idea she felt this way’.

In a week when doctors were told to stop using homeopathy because there is no proof it works, people need to understand how little hard medical evidence exists that ‘antidepressants’ help people who are depressed.

But the correlation between suicide and their use is very strong indeed – so much so that in the USA a warning about it is sometimes printed on the packaging.

Time the BBC turned its spotlight on Suffragette Terrorism

TV historian Lucy Worsley got herself up as a suffragette for an ultra-generous 90-minute TV show last week on this overpraised terrorist faction.

At one point she even struggled into Edwardian prison garb, bonnet and all, and she seemed to me to be identifying rather strongly with Mrs Pankhurst’s bombers and arsonists, who energetically sought prison and martyrdom, and then complained about the conditions.

True, she admitted that the suffragettes were, in fact, dangerous, and formally condemned their violence. But she swallowed the claim that they only burned down ‘empty’ houses (the buildings they targeted often had servants in them, just no rich people).

I think the BBC owes 90 TV minutes to another historian, Simon Webb. He’d look terrible in a corset and a bonnet, but he’s written a fascinating work on the suffragettes, their enormous funds from wealthy backers, the fact that several later became fascists, and how their callous violence made their cause unpopular and actually delayed votes for women.

Is Justin Welby sick of his Job?

Is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, sick of his job? Mr Welby declares that the EU ‘has been the greatest dream realised for human beings since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

'It has brought peace, prosperity, compassion for the poor and weak, purpose for the aspirational and hope for all its people’.

What is he talking about? The EU is not Europe, but the continuation of Germany by other means. It is a rather brutal and arrogant mechanism, not necessarily bringing prosperity, as Greece has discovered in detail.

It is specifically non-Christian. One of its founding spirits, Altiero Spinelli, was a fervent communist, and it rejected calls to acknowledge the Christian roots of European civilisation in its constitution.

An Italian Christian, Rocco Buttiglione, was prevented from becoming a commissioner because of his religious opinions. Its expansionism has brought war to Yugoslavia and Ukraine, and may yet cause more violence.

Mr Welby often seems to me to be in the grip of liberal fashions in thought, poorly informed on subjects about which he pontificates, and perhaps bored by his responsibilities.

Quite possibly, he actually hopes that people like me will suggest that he finds something else to do. Happy to oblige.

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The Church of England has become unfit for purpose. Its role as a cornerstone of British society has, by its own actions and inactions, disappeared. If Stalin were alive today, he would be delighted, over the last 50 years, by the performances of the useful idiots, within the Church hierarchy - who’s leaders have been elected on the basis of quietly going along with the flow of ‘modernisation’. They have forsaken the fundamental rules and values of Christianity and strong spiritual guidance for the appeasement of the politically correct modernisers.
What makes such a mockery of their actions, is that the people whom they kowtow to, the socialist/liberal elite, despise everything about religion and the Church.
To crib a famous statement made by WSC. To avoid war they chose dishonour but, war came and they lost it without a defensive shot being fired.
The Church’s irrelevance is starkly evidenced by the emptiness of its pews on a Sunday. Whilst many couples still want their marriages blessed within the confines of Christianity, only a tiny fraction would ever dream of visiting a church except, maybe, for sightseeing purposes. Once the ‘Baby-Boomer’ and older generations have gone, the Churches will be empty.
Apart from ceremonial duties, it is now time for C of E’s privileged status to be removed and all its financial assets, given to it by generations of Britons, sequestrated by the state and allocated towards worthwhile causes (e.g. NHS) where they can be used to give tangible benefits to the people. All priests should cease receiving remuneration from the Church’s future empty coffers and, either become Lay Preachers or financed by their local church attendees.
Who knows, with the stark reality of the cessation of financial featherbedding from the Church’s vast wealth, the Church of England may well re-find its spiritual place in society and become the force for good that it once was.

Thanks for the support. The Brexit journey is likely to be more difficult than the journey from Zig (Missouri) to Zag (Kentucky) via Lombard Street, San Francisco on a blind donkey but, if it happens, it'll all have been worth it in the end.

As an US citizen, I was so happy when Britain voted to leave the EU, what a courageous and admirable decision. The British people have a great history and culture and are intelligent and strong and will survive and thrive after leaving the EU. The British should see this as an exciting time to build and strengthen trading ties/relations with North and South America. I love both Peter and his late brother Christopher.

Although it has now mysteriously disappeared I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you for the correction you posted in which you admitted that the last comment credited to me was, in fact, posted by yourself. I fully accept your explanation and would like to also thank you for the honesty you have shown.

Perhaps this has exchange has been kicked to death somewhat; it's certainly going nowhere. Perhaps 'John', whose comment first caught my attention is off on his hols, or simply decided that he didn't want to join the debate; Kevin would now prefer to await the long desired 'implosion' that will him great joy and satisfaction, and intrigue us with strange references to Mongolian throat singers! David will shortly get to know 'what's wrong with us', and I will carry on regardless, but not here!

Fair enough, but we are not talking about Mamma Cas, Ray Davies or even Joe Cocker here are we, we are talking about Alan Thomas, who sounds like who or what? To my ears he sounds more like a Mongolian throat singer with laryngitis, but that's just my opinion.

Christmas- glee- Club? What are you talking about? The record shows that after the referendum I was saying I didn't believe we'd be allowed to leave and I *still* say so today. Unless and until the EU implodes, only then will we be truly free.

I'm still nigh clueless about the Kinks, I certainly wouldn't recognise any of their work without the help of the DJ (I expect they call them something else these days). I do quite like some of the less-roudie folk singers, particularly if they articulate the lyrics carefully and stick to singing songs about unrequited love or fishermen lost at sea...

As to educating me, I can't remember you telling me Brexit would be so complicated, indeed, I seem to think you were in the 'it'll all be over by Christmas-glee-club' group post referendum!

Well, before I started educating you, you were as clueless about the Kinks and their major influence on British popular music as you appear to be about the influence of populism on the contemporary European political and economic scene, so perhaps there is hope for you yet.

Alan .
It is a simple problem , there is no real problem with the border between Northern & Southern Ireland .
There were arrangements in place to facilitate trading between the two , before Britain or Eire joined the Common Market .
Stringent border controls were in operation during the Troubles to prevent gun running and smuggling of other weapons or free movement of terrorists , I do not think they operated such stringent controls in more normal periods of Irish history or in fact now .
The Irish Border issue is a red herring , ruse de guerre , a false flag , a diversionary tactic on the part of the EU to raise doubt in their opponents mind , an understandable tactic from their point of view , one you or I might employ whilst negotiating over something .
Britain should be out of EU Political Control , a Common Market , for likeminded countries , Why Britain is not enticing , Italy , Spain or Greece among other EU countries , to join a trading non political bloc , formed on the Commonwealth as a counter negotiating ploy , however unworkable that might be , is puzzling .

Hapsburg Empire? Blimey, and I was expecting something by the Kinks would be your killer argument!

David Taylor

The N.I. argument is certainly valid on both sides of the border for those who live there. Open borders are essential if the large volume of business that presently shuttles between them is to continue. And if, as you appear to suggest, the answer to the problem is a simple one, why has the problem not been solved?

Thanks. If I'd thought at the time that my first post would be more than a one-off I'd have found a name that was a good deal easier.

I don't recall anyone who 'on the Brexit side was stating that a even a return to the bad old days of a very sick economy would be a price worth paying'.

It would not be said because the three-day-week, rampant inflation, industrial strikes and the winter of discontent all occurred when we were *in* the EEC (now EU).

Though Nigel Farage has said that lower economic growth is a price worth paying.

"I'd rather be poorer with fewer migrants, Farage says" according to the Telegraph as far back as 2014.

A caller on his radio phone-in described the EU as a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul 'Ponzi scheme' where we are all promised more out than we put in.

An economic bubble is the only aspect open to smoke and mirrors speculative manipulation and the grounds on which those arguing against national self-determination believed they had a case to make.

Apart from linguistic and legalistic slight of hand, making short-term ups and downs of economic performance forecasts the be all and end all of the issue is a debate red-herring. Such arguments do not address let alone override non-economic concerns.

Even a successful economy being no consolation for anyone whose country they no longer recognise and which actively no longer prefers them.

Economics 'the dismal science' is beside the point as far as the EU being seen as a failed protection racket which has failed to protect.

Alan .
The NI border argument is not valid , NI although it is a devolved part of the UK , is a part of the UK .
Cardiff in devolved Wales , for example , voted to remain , Cardiff is in the UK , is there to be a special border arrangement put in place to deal with that ?
The UK voted for leave , this attempt to divide & rule by the EU , using this argument is classic imperialism in action .

To mirror your concern, I don't recall any suggestions from Remain supporters before or during the Referendum campaign that they would be happy to see a situation in which 'the British take orders directly from Berlin' and that they would be happy to see this happen 'at the expense of all other EU member states ... the French and the Dutch and the Poles and the rest could all go hang.' But on a previous thread ("The EU Referendum was held to save the Tory Party ...") that was precisely the sentiment expressed by one of your fellow Remain supporter R. King.

Rather than a 'red herring' I'd say it was the outcome of our own failure to prepare a 'what if' plan.

It was always a possibility that N.I. might vote to remain. And they did. It was always a possibility that 'open borders' between North and South would be required. And both sides see that as essential. Progress on this issue might succeed if we had a cabinet singing off the same hymn-sheet. We don't.

Alan Thomas .
The red herring of the border between Eire & NI is being used as a gambit in the negotiations .
Like the EAW , extraditing criminals is already a negotiated practice between most countries , the EAW is not needed , it is another example of centralised control , to a needless political entity , the EU .
The Nato alliance prevented war in Europe not the EU .
There is little reason for Britain to cling to another Country for reassurance , it can stand quite well unassisted , the morale collapse of the UK in this regard is astonishing .
5th largest economy
Financial Centre , at least in Europe .
Most highly regarded Military forces in Europe .

What is the matter with us ?.
Anyway legalise pot and most crime will go away , massive saving , except see Colorado , amazing .

People like yourself rightly criticised Cameron and his gang for not making preparations for a Leave victory in the referendum, yet you now say you haven't got to the stage of thinking about what next should happen should the EU implode. You also refer to who WE choose to work closely with should that implosion happen. I'd choose to work closely with all the member states of the EU now and after said implosion. In case you haven't noticed iIt is they who are refusing to cooperate with hardline Brexiteers like myself *not* the other way around.

I haven't got to the stage of the thinking about 'what next' should the EU implode, but were that to happen the question of negotiations as to who we choose to work closely with would be a matter for then not now. The current problem for the PM is, it seems, making sure that we get a reasonable deal with EU countries who wish to continue to trade with us and visa versa. I know your desire is for 'implosion' at any cost as you have made that clear on numerous occasions; I doubt, however that is the case in general.

Another issue in this matter is 'where's John got to'? But a more important issue is that of the border with Ireland...

You say you won't be one of those Remainers who will panic if and more likely when the EU implodes. Okay, so to which nation's nipple would you have Britain cling to once the busy bee Germans are no longer there to provide the milk and honey?

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